Israeli president asked Olmert to be next PM

Israeli President Moshe Katsav today formally chose Ehud Olmert to form Israel’s next government, and Olmert said he would work to quickly put together a coalition that was committed to carrying out his West Bank withdrawal plan.

During the campaign, Olmert said he planned to pull Israel out of much of the West Bank, while strengthening Israel’s control of major settlement blocs and drawing the state’s final borders by 2010.